ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's President John Mahama said he expects to announce later on Thursday a positive outcome to months of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a three-year financial assistance package.
The deal could help restore investor faith in Ghana, a stable democracy and oil, gold and cocoa producer whose economy lost some of its lustre after reporting a budget deficit of nearly 12 percent in 2013.
"As I address you this morning, negotiations are being concluded with an IMF mission team here in Accra and later this afternoon I expect an announcement of a positive outcome of these discussions," Mahama said in his annual state of the nation speech to parliament on Thursday.
A source close to the talks told Reuters on Wednesday that an agreement had been struck for a three-year deal worth around $1 billion (645 million pounds) aimed at restoring fiscal stability.
Since 2013, GDP growth has slowed sharply to a projection for 2015 of 3.9 percent after years at which it stood around 8 percent. Mahama faces re-election in 2016 and the government hopes an IMF deal will enable an economic rebound before then.
